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The academic failure of boys in a number of industrialised countries is disturbing. And to a few people this tragedy is within a hairbreadth of being seen to be the fault of the academic success of girls. Those who enjoy easy answers no doubt feel justified in calling for a mobilization to save boys from the danger of failure.
It is said that the entire profile of the victim has changed sex. (1) The masculine universe has in effect become hostage to feminine values, which remove virility from the notion of equality between the sexes. To counter the terrible effects of such a formula, some people argue that schools should be more attuned to the needs of boys, even permitting them to produce “shows for the guys”, as was recently done by a school administration in Quebec. It devoted a day’s activities specially for boys and did not even object to the presence of the Canadian army which brought a tank and an Apache helicopter onto the school grounds, perhaps in order to show what a real man is to the young boys. (2)
According to some, school does not provide sufficient challenges for the “competitive nature” of boys. If, in contrast, girls succeed in a supposedly softened educational world, it is because they submit to authority more easily than boys. In other words, the success of girls is only the result of their unconditional acceptance of the rules of the game of the educational system. In contrast, the personality of boys is identified with a virility that thrives on a contest with authority. “a dangerous development for the future of the integration of the sexes, educational or social, and for the achievements of decades of feminism”, maintains the “Monde de l’éducation (3).
Let us certainly admit the evidence of the academic difficulties experienced by boys. That said, it is not this fact that is in question, far from it, but rather the manner in which it is interpreted as well as some of the ways proposed to remedy it. Thus are found arguments which essentially support the notion that boys and girls merit a different treatment because the testosterone of boys gives rise to more instability than the estrogens of girls, or that the difference in the workings of the brain of boys requires a teaching method adapted to its particular needs. Elsewhere, according to some studies, the often observed absence of support from fathers towards their sons is the cause of many of the academic problems of boys, without even mentioning the large number of popular “models” of success provided to boys in videos, concerts and movies, which encourage disrespect, machismo and gratuitous violence.
This debate over the comparative academic “performance” between boys and girls takes place for the most part in post-industrial societies where there is widespread access to primary and secondary education. But it is important to remember that at the global level close to 60% of the 123 million children denied access to education are girls. Child marriages, the need to do domestic work and violence perpetrated towards them are amongst the principle reasons for this situation (4). Moreover, let us remember that equality in terms of access to education does not include the question of equality of treatment once girls enter the job market, as “women must attain higher levels of performance in order to succeed in the competition for jobs, for equal pay and for positions of responsibility”, according to a report by UNESCO (5).
There is much to do before we achieve the standards enumerated in the United Nations convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.
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References
(1) Bouchard, Pierrette, Boily, I. and Proulx, M.-C. (2003). « La Réussite scolaire comparée selon le sexe : catalyseur des discours masculinistes ». Condition féminine Canada. http://www.cfc-swc.gc.ca/pubs/0662882857/200303_0662882857_11_f.html
(2) « Education – Pour gars seulement ». Le Devoir, 2003. « The idea of organising this type of activity, which could eventually serve as a pilot project – is the logical result of statistics which show that boys are much more likely to repeat an academic year, not to finish secondary schooling or to end up in a class for children with behavioural difficulties”, wrote the Minister of Education. http://www.ledevoir.com/2003/09/08/35631.html
(3) Le Monde de l’éducation (2003). No310
(4) (5). UNESCO (2003). « Les filles se heurtent encore à de fortes discriminations dans l’accès à l’école ».
http://portal.unesco.org/fr/ev.php@URL_ID=17039&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_
SECTION=201.html
Image :Extrait de la page couverture de l'ouvrage "Sauvons les garçons !" de Jean-Louis Auduc, Éditions Descartes & Cie
http://www.editions-descartes.fr/spip.php?article667
